Webloggin » Congress Sits on Immigration Enforcement while Tuberculosis Cases Increase

The staggering rise in cases of tuberculosis is yet another stunning example of just how inept and corrupt our elected officials really are.

Alabama health officials have identified 212 workers who have tested positive for tuberculosis at a single poultry plant owned by one of the largest processors in the U.S.

In two batteries of skin tests last month, given to 765 fresh processing employees at the Decatur, Ala., plant owned by Wayne Farms LLC by the State Department of Public Health’s Tuberculosis Control Division, 28 percent were found to be infected, including one with active tuberculosis disease, which is contagious. Doctors have yet to evaluate X-rays for 165 current workers who tested positive to determine if any more are contagious.

The testing was prompted by an earlier active TB case – a former Wayne Farms worker.

Both employees with active TB are Hispanics born in countries where the disease is prevalent, heath officials said.

When the disease is latent, those with TB are not contagious, but the TB bacteria remains in the body for life unless it is treated. Once it becomes active it may cause permanent damage to the lungs and other organs and the airborne bacteria is easily spread by coughing, laughing or even talking. According to the Centers for Disease Control, 50 percent of those who have close contact with someone with active TB for 15 minutes will become infected. - World Net Daily

The WND article does not state whether or not the employees are illegal. Bets are that many are. Unfortunately this is just one incident in a rash of cases that are cropping up all over the country thanks to lax border enforcement policies. TB killed over 1.7 million people worldwide in 2004.

This goes way beyond incompetence. The failure to enforce immigration laws that are already on the books is willful negligence. Everybody in Congress that failed to act on fixing the borders by diverting the focus to some sort of reform measure meant to solicit future votes is complicit.

While the politicians pander for votes everyday Americans have to deal with the fact that new strains of TB have popped up that are far more dangerous than those of the past. Different forms of the disease exist and many are virtually untreatable. So while one form of TB is highly treatable and curable there are two other forms, MDR and XDR that are not. In MDR or Multi-drug Resistant TB, the disease is resistant to the first two line of drugs used to treat normal TB. In XDR or Extensively Drug Resistant TB, the disease is resistant to three or more of the six classes of second-line drugs.

Most of the people who are carriers of TB are foreign born. This is just another reason to tighten the borders, and quarantine and test people before allowing them into the United States. Failing to do this or at least keeping track of who is coming into this country goes way beyond incompetence. Everybody in Congress that failed to act on fixing the borders by diverting the focus to some sort of reform measure meant to solicit future votes is complicit.

The CDC says that the infected poultry workers do not pose a risk to food. Does this make you sleep better at night? Do you look at your kids and think this is fine as you send them off to school where politicians and educators have set up a nice little sanctuary for the children of illegals? It doesn’t matter much to them because they send their kids to private schools, you know, the ones that don’t have illegals. But I guess it’s all OK for you and I. After all, it’s for the kids. Tell that to the ones hooked up to the respirator, clinging to life and struggling to keep their infected organs from dying.

Congress has let us down once again and the mainstream media doesn’t want to talk about this side of immigration. How about you?